


The Real Cryptids Were the Friends We Made Along the Way

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Black Eyed Child, Chance Meetings, Cryptids, Cryptozoology, Demons, F/M, M/M, Meet-Cute, Shapeshifting, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 11:38:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17202752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: There have long been stories in Lup and Taako's hometown about a creature known as the Nightwalker. They're determined to find proof that it exists.They end up finding so much more.





	The Real Cryptids Were the Friends We Made Along the Way

 Taako picked up the camera and adjusted the focus of the lens before turning it to point at his sister.

"Okay, Lu, give the viewing audience at home a rundown on what we're up to today."

Lup adjusted the vest she was wearing as she double checked to make sure she had her flashlight and camera close to hand. Then she flashed the camera a peace sign. 

"We're headed out to the woods to hunt a fuckin' cryptid and it's gonna be sweet as fuck. Right, Ko?"

"Hell yeah."

Taako slung a backpack over his shoulder and turned the camera towards the forest. As they started down the trail, he turned the camera back towards his face and started explaining.

"Alright, here's some background, my dudes. What we've got right here is the forest known as the Felicity Wildes and we're headed on a search for a critter known as the Nightwalker. Basically, the stories say this big boy is about eight feel tall with a basically humanoid form. You know, legs and arms and torso and head and shit. And it's got red eyes that light up. Not like reflect light. We're talking self-illuminating."

He turned the camera again then, pointing it out into the darkness. They had a long way to go before they got to their first point of interest. There were the remains of an old house out there, just a stone foundation from something that was probably hundreds of years old. A little cottage or something. It was tied into the theories of what the Nightwalker might be, with some people saying it was the vengeful spirit of the inhabitant of that old cottage and some saying it was a demon that a cult had conjured on the spot. 

In the end though, no one truly knew what the Nightwalker was. The legends went back for centuries, at least, with people reporting sightings here and there. Taako and Lup had grown up not far from here and that was a lot of the reason they had decided it was time to find out what was really going on. If anyone could get to the root of the story, it was them. 

Assuming, of course, that the Nightwalker was real. And that it wasn't dangerous. Then again, if it was, there wasn't really all that much they could do about it now.

* * *

 After about half an hour, Lup led the way into the clearing surrounding the old foundation and Taako followed a few steps behind her. She paused, turning in place as she took pictures, and Taako panned the camera around the clearing.

"Okay, so, here's the plan. We're gonna start out by setting up some equipment. We've got some trap cams and motion detectors to put out. Plus a night vision cam that we can set up right here. It's gonna be rad." He looked up then, ears flicking back. "Lup, you ready?"

She shot him a thumbs up and shucked her own backpack to start setting up equipment. It shouldn't take too long to get all of this ready to go. 

And soon it was. Lup took one last moment to double check the camera she had pointed at the foundation itself and then nodded.

"Okay, Ko, let's head out into the woods. We've still got a second point to hit and I wanna get there before midnight." Taako turned the camera towards her as they walked and she grinned at the camera. "So, here's the deal. The Nightwalker's supposed to be a big boy, right? But it's also supposed it be basically a shadow figure. Just darkness that's a little darker than the rest of the darkness. Natch. But nobody knows if it's sucking light in or if it's just a really really dark boy. Plus it's got these glowy eyes. Which is fuckin' wild and I love it."

Taako laughed. Lup had been talking like that since they first decided they were going after this thing. The way she talked, he was pretty sure she was going to try to hug the damn thing when they finally found it. Which would be hilarious, given that it was just over two feet taller than her. He would definitely, absolutely need to get a picture of that.

* * *

 As they ventured further and further into the woods, they made their way towards the river. There had been sightings of the creature up there as well, near the base of the dam. According to local legend, the Nightwalker had been seen looming over the water and bending down almost as though it was taking a drink. The plan was to explore that area more in depth and then check their other cameras and motion sensors in the morning. 

Taako stopped short suddenly, camera pointed towards the river. He paused then, panning back towards where he had been certain... Just a moment before...

"Lup, did you just...?"

She had stopped as well, flashlight aimed across the river. And as they both stared into the darkness looking for any patches of dark that were blacker and deeper than the others, they could both see red eyes staring back. Taako pulled back, moving closer to his sister as she nodded frantically. Whatever they were seeing, they were both seeing it. The red lights of the eyes suddenly both turned towards them and then vanished.

Taako and Lup exchanged a look and then ran through the dark towards the river. They were going to find the Nightwalker, no matter what it took. They charged blindly through the underbrush until they stumbled into what looked like an old campsite. A long cooled fire sat by a torn tent and Lup paused, looking around. Something moved in the shadows and she held her breath, pointing her flashlight towards that spot. The light reflected off of something and she pulled back. Then the shadow came into focus and Lup couldn't help but laugh. She was looking into the eyes of a human man in jeans and a white t-shirt with a look on confusion on his face.

"Shit, sorry, my dude." She lowered the flashlight and offered him a hand up. "You okay?"

The man coughed a little, clearing his throat, and then let her help him up before he smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." His voice sounded rough, almost a little hoarse. "What uh... Is everything okay?"

Lup looked around a little, trying to spot where her brother had gotten to. Or the creature they had been chasing. Taako was walking towards them out of the dark with his camera upraised. Then he lowered it, closing the view screen on the side.

"I think we lost it, Lup." Then he looked at the man standing beyond her. "Uh... s'up, my man? Did you see anything weird come through here. Other than us... I guess."

The man paused in trying to brush dirt off his jeans and then blinked up at Taako. 

"I mean... I don't think so? I uh... I'm just... you know, out here." He looked around at the camp sort of oddly and then picked up a torn backpack. "This is mine."

Lup gave Taako an odd look and then looked back at the man and his torn backpack.

"Uh... Sure. Natch." She looked him over again. He looked clean but everything in the camp was shredded. It was a confusing mix of disparate things, a scene that seemed to have been thrown together haphazardly with no logic behind it. "So, what's your name, my dude?"

The man hesitated for a long moment. Then he looked down at the ground and then back up at her. For a moment, Lup would have sworn that his eyes flashed red like the creature they had chased through the woods. Then he adjusted his glasses and met her eyes.

"Barry. I'm Barry Bluejeans."

Taako stared at him for a long moment, ears pinned back and eyes narrowed. Then he shook his head and turned back towards their first point of interest.

"I'm gonna go check the trap cams, Lup. If you wanna chill here with him, be my guest." 

* * *

 

When they met back up at the car later, Taako was startled to see that Barry was still trailing behind Lup, his backpack slung on his back and another bag that must contain the shredded tent in his arms. Taako looked down at the camera, watching the footage of the red eyes vanishing one last time before he looked up at Barry and Lup. In that moment, he was that one meme of the woman surrounded by math and he wasn't liking what the equations were coming out to. But there was no way the creature had shape-shifted into a chubby human nerd. That just didn't make sense. Knowing Lup, she'd found out he had no place to go and now they had a weird couch roommate. Sure, whatever. She did this shit from time to time. He nodded at them as they got closer and held up the camera.

"We got some pretty good footage of that boy. And the trap cams got something but I don't know what yet. Gonna have to get that shit loaded up on the computer so we can get a look through."

Lup was fishing around in her pocket for the keys to their car. She shot him a thumbs up and as the car beeped and the trunk opened. She slung a gear bag into the trunk and stretched.

"So, Barry's gonna stay with us for a couple days." 

The man in question gave Taako a little wave and then followed Lup towards the trunk of the car, looking uncertainly at the bags in his hands. Then he dropped them into the trunk as well and followed her back to the driver's door. It was odd, Taako thought as he watched, it was almost as though the man didn't know how cars worked. Lup opened the door to the backseat and Barry dropped onto the seat, looking back out the window after the door was closed. Taako took his own seat and looked down, continuing to look through the video frame by frame. He was certain there was a moment in there where something important was happening, he just hadn't found it yet. It was too dark to see. 

* * *

 

The next morning, Lup was in the kitchen waiting for her eggos to pop out of the toaster, drumming on the counter, when Barry wandered in. He'd slept on the couch the night before and was still wearing the same clothes as the day before, though now he had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He adjusted his glasses and gave her an uncertain smile.

"Morning. What are uh... What's that?"

He was eyeing the toaster oddly just before it let out a ding noise and the eggo minis popped up. Barry took a step back as Lup reached for her waffles.

"Waffles. Want some?"

She ripped them apart, blowing on her fingers, and then held one out to him. Barry took it and sniffed it for a moment before popping it in his mouth. Lup held up a hand, mouth open to warn him about how hot it would be. But he showed no sign of noticing. It was like the heat didn't bother him in the slightest. He was chewing contemplatively, swallowed, and then grinned brightly.

"That was tasty." Then he looked past her. "Are there more?"

Lup couldn't help but start laughing. Then she went to the freezer.

"Natch. Lemme just pop some more in. Sit down and I'll make you a coffee too. How'd you sleep, my dude?"

Barry sat at the table and adjusted his glasses again. Lup set a mug of coffee in front of him and he sipped at it.

"Good. Yeah, good. It's uh... a comfy couch."

When the toaster dinged again, Lup put a plate of waffles in front of him and then sat in her own seat.

"Cool cool. So... not that I'm trying to get rid of you or anything, but did you remember what you were doing out there or nah?"

Barry hesitated for a long moment and then shook his head. He'd been like that since she found him and Lup was starting to form a theory. She and Taako had been chasing a monster and found a man with no memories, so maybe... just maybe Barry had been involved in an altercation with the Nightwalker. There were a lot of ways it could make sense, really. If the creature had been overwhelming to his psyche, it was possible that his mind had erased the encounter or just masked it with something else. It was a common theory, that the mind would protect itself by hiding the incomprehensible. It would explain so much about his behavior, about the state of his camp and his possessions. The question now was how to get this poor man home.

"Sorry, Lup. I uh... I don't know what to tell you." He fidgeted with the waffles and then popped another one into his mouth. "I'll keep trying to come up with something though."

She smiled, working on ripping her own mini waffles apart.  
  
"Take your time, my dude. Really. It's chill."  
  
Taako wandered into the kitchen then, a robe thrown on over his pajamas. He nodded a greeting at both of them and went grab his own mug and a bottle of caramel creamer. He was in the process of pouring his coffee when the doorbell ran. With a sigh, he took his cup and went to the door, pulling it open. A small boy stood on the front steps with a cap pulled down low, an overlarge pair of glasses on his face, a blue sweater vest, and a dark blue pair of pants, looking up at Taako. His face was shadowed by his cap and Taako felt suddenly uneasy.   
  
"Hello, Sir. Can I please come into your home? I'm looking for my friend."


End file.
